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Tuesday, 1 May 2012

I've been checking out some gorgeous DIY projects online lately, and found some really cute little blackboards made out of secondhand frames. Nothing gets me in like a cheap project, so cue the blackboard paint and look out Vinnies!

I found the perfect frame for, would you believe it, $1! No joke. Wishing I'd taken a pic of it 'before' its transformation, but to give you an idea, it looked a little like this...

I grabbed a spray can of undercoat & white gloss we had in the shed, and the blackboard paint I'd purchased many moons ago, while waiting for the inspiration for this project, a few fine grade sandpaper sheets, and off I went.

First, I took out the glass, and E even helped sand back the old varnish on the frame. After painting a few coats of white, I realised the stain that we couldn't sand back in the grooves was bleeding through, so I raced off to the hardware to see if I could find something to cover it. Thankfully, there was a product just for this situation, Stain No More (AND it was in a can - definitely my kind of product). So, instead of undercoat, next time I'll be using that direct over the frame.

For the glass, I sanded it back with fine (220) grade sandpaper, and I think it would have turned out fine if I had of sprayed the blackboard paint directly over that, but the good salesman at the hardware also managed to sell me some kind of etch stuff for smooth surfaces like glass, mirrors etc. So I'm not sure if it was that, or the sanding that gave it such a good finish, but the surface was fabulous. I think one coat of the blackboard paint would have been enough, but to be on the safe side, I did two.

Now comes the fun part! After letting it dry for 24 hours, I ran a chalk over it sideways, rubbed it off, and let the kids go wild.